Ben Goldsborough MP: speeches

Speeches

• 25 Nov 2025 · NHS Dental Services: Norfolk · Hansard source

  More

  9. What steps his Department is taking to improve access to NHS dental services in Norfolk.

• 25 Nov 2025 · NHS Dental Services: Norfolk · Hansard source

  More

  After 16 months of a Labour Government, the share of adults in Norfolk seen by a dentist has risen from barely scraping 30% to well over 40%—lots done, but lots more to be done. The University of East Anglia proposed a dental school as part of the solution. Will the Minister work with Department for Education colleagues to ensure that the Office for Students and other bodies give it the green light?

• 17 Nov 2025 · Asylum Policy · Hansard source

  More

  South Norfolk expects to have a robust and compassionate asylum process. I welcome this statement. One of the aspects that I am most interested in is the penultimate paragraph on page 28 of the document, which states: “The new model will give greater say to communities and support refugees” to settle and become self-sufficient. Will the Home Secretary expand on the mechanisms that could be put in place to ensure that that happens?

• 13 Nov 2025 · Police Reform · Hansard source

  More

  Norfolk, which is already progressing through local government reorganisation and devolution, has several existing partnerships working to protect and support victims of crime. Will the Minister meet me and Sarah Taylor, Norfolk’s police and crime commissioner, to discuss how we can ensure that these arrangements continue to serve the people of Norfolk? There are worrying signs that some partners are withdrawing services because of these reorganisations.

• 3 Nov 2025 · Video Games: Consumer Law · Hansard source

  More

  That is another really practical implementation that could go ahead, and I thank my hon. Friend for suggesting it. If a game is likely to go offline, gamers should be told, and where possible, offline modes should be provided. When closures are unavoidable, there should be clear notice periods and, where appropriate, refunds. Where a game has no commercial future, studios should be encouraged or supported to preserve assets for cultural history. Some companies are already showing leadership in this regard. Ubisoft offered refunds when “The Crew” was shut down and Valve released the “Team Fortress 2” source code to help to ensure its long-term preservation, so responsible practice is possible. What we need now is a collaborative code of practice developed jointly by industry, consumer groups, preservation experts and Government—not heavy-handed law, but clear expectations. We must also recognise that independent developers cannot realistically archive every unsuccessful project.

• 3 Nov 2025 · Video Games: Consumer Law · Hansard source

  More

  I beg to move, That this House has considered e-petition 702074 relating to consumer law and videogames. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Mundell. I am grateful to the petitioner and to the nearly 190,000 people who signed the petition, demonstrating not only strong public concern but the enormous cultural relevance of video games to people across the country. It is not just a domestic issue; similar campaigns are ongoing in the EU, the United States, Canada and Australia. This is a global conversation, and the United Kingdom must not be left behind. I come to this debate not only as a Member of Parliament but as a lifelong gamer. From my childhood through to university, games have been a constant: sometimes a way to switch off, sometimes a means to connect with others and sometimes a way to challenge myself. Even today, when I get the odd quiet evening, I can still be found planning new trade networks on “Victoria II”, optimising traffic flow in “Cities: Skylines” or returning to the timeless brilliance of the “Oddworld” series. For many of us, gaming is personal. It is not just simply entertainment; it is a memory, an identity and a community. That is why today’s debate matters. The video game industry contributes £7.6 billion to the UK economy and supports more than 75,000 jobs. We are home to world-leading studios, cutting-edge research and some of the most talented creative minds anywhere on earth. We should value the industry not only for its economic output but as a cultural powerhouse shaping stories, art, music and technology.

• 3 Nov 2025 · Video Games: Consumer Law · Hansard source

  More

  On that note, Mr Mundell, as I was about to finish: this is about fairness, responsibility, creativity and protecting a cultural legacy of which the United Kingdom should be proud.

• 3 Nov 2025 · Video Games: Consumer Law · Hansard source

  More

  This is the one time that I am quite jealous of the hon. Member’s constituency because, as he suggested, it is the constituency that has laid the golden egg. The cultural relevance of GTA is never-ending: when the next title in the series is released it will be bigger than any movie that has been released in the United Kingdom, if not the world, for many years. I ask the Minister to work with studios and consumer groups to establish clear expectations around shutdowns and access, to support cultural institutions such as the National Videogame Museum and to help develop an industry-led framework to preserve our gaming heritage for future generations.

• 3 Nov 2025 · Video Games: Consumer Law · Hansard source

  More

  I thank all Members who took part in the debate and all the petitioners. Were the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) present, I could have said that every part of the United Kingdom was represented in the Chamber today—but we nearly got there. That shows the benefits of the video game industry to our economy and to our culture. I was heartened by the Minister’s closing remarks about action to put consumers back at the heart of the process. This is an evolving situation; the video game industry is changing on a daily basis. Ensuring that consumers are at the heart of how the video game industry works in future is a heartening step to hear about. As I said, this issue will not go away. I hope that the Minister and her Department will work closely with all Members who have spoken today to secure the best outcome, which we all want.

• 3 Nov 2025 · Video Games: Consumer Law · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend makes a really important point. What is it to own a video game? What is it to keep the background services running? Is it an interactive process going forward with multiple users, or is it just a single-access game? When a game shuts down, it is not just a consumer issue but a cultural one. This debate is not just about keeping games playable; it is about preserving our cultural heritage. The National Videogame Museum in Sheffield already does fantastic work to document, curate and celebrate this history, but we need to support institutions like it further. I urge the Government to explore funding, partnerships and sector support to ensure that we maintain a library full of significant games—not necessarily the full playable versions, but assets, scripts, soundtracks and design documents. We would never dream of pulping every copy of Shakespeare, and we should not think any differently about video games. We have seen what is possible when communities are empowered. When “Doom” was released decades ago, it sparked an entire ecosystem of mods, creativity and eventually genre-defining innovation. We also see it with ROM-hacking communities, especially around older titles such as “Super Mario World”. I am the first to admit that I cannot play “Kaizo Mario World” for toffee—those levels are punishing. But I do enjoy watching streamers such as BarbarousKing both creating the “Grand Poo World Trilogy”—this is the first time that Hansard has had to write that down—and playing it live. That highlights yet another modern element of gaming culture—streaming. Platforms such as Twitch have turned gameplay into performance art, commentary and community. People gather to cheer, learn, laugh and share. This, too, is culture, and it deserves to be safeguarded. I want to be absolutely clear that this debate is not anti-industry. Running online games costs real money. Servers, hardware, maintenance contracts, security and teams of engineers all cost money. Requiring developers to define end-of-life strategies up front could stifle innovation and create unintended risks. But gamers deserve clarity. If a game is likely to go offline, they should be told that.

• 3 Nov 2025 · Video Games: Consumer Law · Hansard source

  More

  This is the thing about gaming: it is not just about the creative arts; it is also about science and technology. Cambridge bats above its average not just within the UK but on the global stage. I am very proud, as an East Anglian MP, to have my hon. Friend’s constituency next door providing this for the future. The nature of games has changed. Many modern titles are live services, constantly updated, server-dependent and with ongoing operational costs. That is not inherently a bad thing—live services have created vibrant global communities—but it has changed what it means to own a game. Gamers still feel the deep sense of personal possession, because they invest more than money; they invest time, effort, imagination and friendship. When a game shuts down without clear notice, that investment is lost and a shared world disappears. The Video Game History Foundation estimates that 87% of games released before 2010 are now critically endangered.

• 3 Nov 2025 · Video Games: Consumer Law · Hansard source

  More

  When we look at consumer law, we have to take into account the vast progress that has been made in some sectors. It would be helpful if the Minister was able to look into that issue in the future.

• 30 Oct 2025 · Moles: Histological Testing · Hansard source

  More

  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine. My speech today will come from a personal perspective, as well as my talking about Zoe Panayi’s life experience. I start with thanks, because this is a huge part of my own journey, as well as the journeys of everyone in this room. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting this debate. I want to give my thanks to Zoe’s family for letting me meet them a couple of weeks ago. It was an honour, and I cannot say that strongly enough. I also thank my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight West (Mr Quigley); I would never have known about Zoe’s journey, tragedy and her family’s loss without him reaching out to me and asking me to support and be involved in this vital campaign. I need to thank those who are currently treating me for stage 2C malignant melanoma. A lot of people might be wondering—including those watching at home—“Is he getting his treatment at the Norfolk and Norwich?” Unfortunately not—so that I can carry on doing my job, which I am really determined to do—my treatment is currently being done at Charing Cross hospital in London. To lift the mask off, yesterday was my treatment day, and I went in for pembrolizumab immunotherapy. I thank those on the sixth floor in the oncology department —I will not name names, because sadly there are too many of them who have to shove a canula into me every three weeks, and I would be here forever listing their names. I thank everyone in clinic 8 in the phlebotomy team who look after me. I thank my oncologist, who has gone above and beyond to hold my hand and make sure that I have the mental support and wellbeing that I need as well as the physical support. Those people have made a difference to my life. It reminds me of, “There but for the grace of God go I”, when we talk about Zoe’s life. The reason why I will keep referring to Zoe is because Zoe Panayi is a name that needs to be in Hansard as much as humanly possible. We lost her in tragic circumstances. Jess’s law, which the Government are now passing, will make a difference to close the loopholes in the NHS when failures occur, but there are other issues that we need to look at. There is the private sector and the beautician sector as well. Through the great loss of Zoe’s life, at least, I hope that in the fullness of time we will be able to turn around and say Zoe Panayi’s life gave us something that actually protects others, and that it drives forward the change that we need in this country to ensure that more lives are not destroyed by melanomas and other skin cancers. The other thanks I want to give is to Skcin—which, for Hansard , because their name is a bit funnily spelled, is S-K-C-I-N—a fantastic charity that has advised me over time on what action we can take. As pointed out by my hon. Friend the Member for Neath and Swansea East (Carolyn Harris), we need to have more investigations into the use of sunbeds. We know that they make a huge difference in our more deprived communities, and I praise the work that my hon. Friend is doing in her APPG. I also thank Melanoma Focus and the dermatologists from Leeds teaching hospitals for their engagement with me and my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight West last week, talking about the solutions. All too often in this place we can talk about the negatives and we say, “Oh, this is too difficult. We can’t fix this problem”, but we truly can. With a Zoe check and Zoe’s law, we can make the advancements that we need. The best way to think about this in this House is to talk back to the silos. In the NHS, Jess’s law will make a difference. With the private sector, we need to look at how we work with the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Surgeons to make sure that they have the training and skills they need to deliver the detection that is needed on different forms of dermatology, skin cancers and melanomas. There is also the beautician sector. There are lots of different solutions for that, ranging from completely banning all removal of lesions, skin tags and moles to enforced checking of everything through a biopsy, which is where I land on this, and is why I think a Zoe check is so important. We should say, “Yes, this is not something the NHS will pay for; it will be part of the private sector’s charge”. That private sector money will help us fund more pathologists and drive forward the checks that we need so that more lives are saved. As I think was said perfectly by my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight West—this debate is not the end: it is very much the start. Zoe’s family have been working on this tirelessly for years, and that shows. It takes a huge amount of strength not just to deal with the loss of a loved one, but to find an inner strength to look after those they have never met—and never will meet—and know that they are doing something good and something that will last. I think that is extremely noble. I thank Charlie and his mum for doing that. It is a time of thanks and a time of optimism. By pulling together on a cross-party basis, which we know we can do on cancers, we can save more lives.

• 30 Oct 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  In rural constituencies like South Norfolk, I can think of no better place for employment than our pubs. From the Wheel of Fortune in Alpington to the Angel Inn in Loddon, these pubs are not just vital hubs of our communities but drivers of economic growth. In fact, Mr Speaker, you are more than welcome to join my Christmas pub team on 13 December. What support are the Government putting in place to help those businesses provide decent employment?

• 28 Oct 2025 · Family Farming in Northern Ireland · Hansard source

  More

  I congratulate the Minister on his first appearance in Westminster Hall. My question is about that 5 percentage point change. This year has been a terrible year for yields, especially in South Norfolk with the droughts. That hits the profitability of farming, which is non-existent—there is not enough profitability in farming. Will the Minister share what investigations the Treasury has done on that fluctuation in profitability and the ability of our farmers to pay the 5 percentage point increase he mentioned?

• 28 Oct 2025 · Family Farming in Northern Ireland · Hansard source

  More

  The hon. Lady is making an extremely good point about the impact on Northern Irish farms, and a similar thing will happen in South Norfolk. I would like to present solutions to this problem. I posit—and she may want to comment on this later on—that the Centre for Tax Reform’s policy would actually raise the amount of income for the Treasury by 71%. I also encourage the hon. Lady to look at separating APR and BPR, pausing the process and looking at whether we can raise revenues and protect the family farm.

• 20 Oct 2025 · Alleged Spying Case: Home Office Involvement · Hansard source

  More

  Malign foreign actors will always try to find the next weakest link, and my concern is local authorities, which have the spending power of £127.1 billion. What action is the Home Office taking to ensure that our councillors and other democratically elected people at the lower levels of government are also given the protection they need?

• 15 Oct 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

  More

  Q10. As many Members know, I am currently being treated for stage 2C skin cancer. I am responding well, but only because it was caught early and because I have had the very best of NHS care. Not everyone is so fortunate. Zoe Panayi, a 26-year-old from the Isle of Wight, was told that her mole was harmless. She had it removed privately, but it proved to be malignant. She tragically died in 2020. Her family—Charlie and Eileen are in the Gallery today—have shown extraordinary courage, working with my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight West (Mr Quigley) and me to campaign for Zoe’s law: compulsory testing of all removed moles. Will the Prime Minister meet us, and Zoe’s family, to discuss how we can make this a reality?

• 15 Sept 2025 · Shoplifting · Hansard source

  More

  As a proud member of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers and formerly the youngest deputy store manager for Halford’s in the east of England, I know at first hand the fear that shoplifting causes to retail workers. What action is my hon. Friend taking to ensure that the police have the powers they need to use the full force of the law to tackle those who steal from our shops?

• 15 Sept 2025 · Shoplifting · Hansard source

  More

  10. What steps her Department is taking to help tackle shoplifting.

• 11 Sept 2025 · Regional Transport Inequality · Hansard source

  More

  For rural areas such as South Norfolk, transport links are a lifeline. So I am delighted that this Government are doing what previous Governments failed to do: investing in South Norfolk’s infrastructure. Already I have secured a £200 million investment to upgrade the Thickthorn junction, shaving valuable, lifesaving minutes off journeys for ambulances to access the Norfolk and Norwich hospital, which will also benefit the constituency of the hon. Member for Broadland and Fakenham (Jerome Mayhew) directly. I have also secured £2.6 million for key cycle and footpath access across Norfolk, including the Hethersett to Norwich research park cycle route. But there is more to do. Today I want to touch on three points: first, rural road safety; secondly, bus services in South Norfolk; and thirdly—the Minister will not be surprised to hear me mention this again—Wymondham train station. On my first point, I am currently running a constituency-wide survey on rural road safety in South Norfolk. Once the survey has concluded, I will share my findings with Norfolk county council, the police and crime commissioner for Norfolk and the Roads Minister. What is already clear, however, is that Norfolk roads are simply not fit for purpose. They are unsafe and covered with potholes, despite our Labour Government increasing Norfolk county council’s budget for pothole repairs to £56 million. On bus services, the situation is just as frustrating. For disabled and less mobile residents of estates like the Hampdens in Costessey, bus services are in effect non-existent. The whole of the Hampdens estate is without bus services—they deserve better than this enforced isolation. I now turn to Wymondham train station. As the Department already knows from my many, many lobbying attempts, platform 2 southbound from Wymondham has no step-free access—it is a Victorian train station that is celebrating its 180th birthday—so anyone with a mobility issue wanting to travel south from Wymondham must first travel all the way north to Norwich, then turn around and travel all the way back down. That is completely inefficient, isolating and unjust. Once again, the primary victims of poor transport provision are elderly and disabled people. Accessibility upgrades to Wymondham station are being considered by the Access for All scheme. I realise that the Minister will not be able to comment in any detail about Wymondham station, but I can think of no better way to prove the Government’s dedication to tackle regional transport inequality than to make it accessible for all. Viewers of the BBC’s “Politics East” would expect all politicians from East Anglia to want to talk about another aspect of rail use: the Ely and Haughley junction upgrade. I will continue to lobby on this cross-party issue across the whole of East Anglia. The upgrade would shave off valuable minutes and increase freight haulage to Felixstowe, which would be a huge economic boost for our region, and I would get more services to Wymondham and Spooner Row, which would be a win for everyone. Again, I put that on the Minister’s to-do list. To sum up: we need to hold Norfolk county council to account for failing to fix our roads, we need to continue making progress to improve access to bus services, and Wymondham station must finally be made accessible to all.

• 11 Sept 2025 · Regional Transport Inequality · Hansard source

  More

  Will the shadow Minister give way?

• 11 Sept 2025 · Regional Transport Inequality · Hansard source

  More

  The shadow Minister talks about the A47, which runs through my constituency. Would he agree that the £200 million being spent on the improvement of the Thickthorn junction in our area will make a huge difference, compared to the £50 million wasted by Norfolk county council, run by his party, on a road that has not had an inch of tarmac laid?

• 11 Sept 2025 · Biosecurity at the Border: Britain’s Illegal Meat Crisis · Hansard source

  More

  I congratulate and thank the Committee for this valuable work. Biosecurity is national security. The pork industry is worth £1.8 billion a year, and the sector is vital to Norfolk, particularly South Norfolk. As others have said, it is estimated that an outbreak of African swine fever would cost £100 million. Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that, in our efforts to protect UK biosecurity, we need also to focus on small ports and airports as places of weakness?

• 8 Sept 2025 · Indefinite Leave to Remain · Hansard source

  More

  I beg to move, That this House has considered e-petitions 727360 and 727356 relating to the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Jeremy. The excellent staff on the Petitions Committee have been as diligent as ever; thanks to their hard work, I have had some very informative meetings with experts and campaign groups. I want to quickly thank the Migration Observatory, the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, Hong Kong Watch and the Centre for Policy Studies for taking the time to discuss the policy with me. I also want to thank Darwin, the creator of the petition entitled “Keep the 5-Year ILR pathway for existing Skilled Worker visa holders”, for the fascinating and moving conversation that we had last week. Before I turn to the detail, I want to say why today’s debate matters. It is timely because the public discourse on immigration grows louder, fuelled by the algorithms of X and Facebook. We also see those who peddle the idea that you can have your cake and eat it: lower migration, but without the consequences to our economy, our NHS, our diplomacy or our culture. They are charlatans trying to hoodwink the public with slogans on the sides of buses. They want to divide us and set the tone that all immigration is bad and, by extension, that all migrants are unwelcome. But that is not our country. That is not who we are. The moral compass of the vast majority of Britons points firmly in the other direction. This debate is our chance to show that careful deliberation is needed. Managed migration, done well, strengthens us. It grows our economy, it enriches our culture and it gives us the diplomatic heft to punch above our weight on the world stage. First, I want to address one specific point. Experts have raised with me multiple times the need for a clear and honest conversation about what these changes mean, and the need for a clear distinction between immigration pathways and the different types of immigration. Let us be clear at the start about what we have and have not been asked to discuss today. We are not here to debate asylum claims, the graduate route, small boats or ancestry visas. The 164,000 and 108,000 people who signed the two petitions are asking us to consider two precise things: the five-year pathway for existing skilled worker visa holders and the five-year pathway for Hong Kong British national overseas visas. Let me turn first to skilled workers. There are three issues to get to grips with, the first of which is fairness to those who are already here. The skilled worker visa pathway was introduced only in December 2020, and many people are now close to completing their five years. Some are just months away.